When thinking about past paint colors in our home, it seems that they tend to change the most when we are going through a weather season change, but also personal season changes as well. Does anyone else feel like this in their own homes? Let me explain a little further. This isn’t going to be necessarily color theory 101, but I do want to share the impact of color in and outside your home. I think we all are somewhat self-aware of the magic and trickery big businesses use with colors to help influence and gain our business. I like to think of color theory as the real-world “original” algorithm of our life. Companies spend a lot of time, money, and research diving into color theory, which only implies that it truly does work; and during interior design school, there is significant evidence behind it. So picking a Favorite Paint Color can do more than satisfy your eyes, it can truly create, amplify, or even lessen a mood. With the different seasons outside, and difference seasons of life (inside), colors to need to compliment those changes.
Something that I have done in the past, if I know a space is going to eventually be demo’d or remodeled I’ll paint it nearly pure white with a touch of warmth. I do this because it creates an open space and canvas to help me in-vision the room better. As we get closer to a finalized state I’ll add slight color to the space, but my design style has always been more of eclectic and collections, and I want the decor to showcase more than the wall colors. Here isa fun little before and after from the Zillow listing to the most recent (before my new paint project).
Grab Those Samples!
For those that are not experienced with picking colors, the light casted from outside plays a major role in how you will see the color in the home. It blows my mind how one color can look so different from room to room, but it comes down to the light coming into your space. Our library has always been a tough room to find a good color, it casts so green, so finding a color that mutes that cast-and one that I enjoy is always fun. So I emphasize before you dive in on a paint color, sample-sample-sample. Grabbing a few swatches to bring home and see how it look is a great start, but make sure you get a sample pot and get it on the wall in a few areas. You can never over sample in my opinion, but if the wall by the window looks great, make sure it looks good over the main viewing areas, like over a mantel or near the TV too. If you are not in a hurry, give the samples time to live little. See the color throughout the day, with natural light and added house light.
I remember a space in North Carolina, I painted Wood Smoke by Glidden & I remember one year we had like 20+ days of rainy-gloomy weather, so naturally we hunkered in and stayed inside. The gloomy gray outside really amplified the gloomy gray inside, and when the sun finally came out, I felt like it was still cloudy whenever we were inside, and unaware of the impact of color theory, I always felt tired and sleepy when I was in our home… which is great if you are needing to do everything to relax, but I was finding out counterproductive. We were newly weds back then & wanted to spend our money on other things than re-painting, but that always stands out to me when picking a color… asking myself when are you going to enjoy the space, what time of day and time of year, how with the space look during those times?
The Paint Color
Okay, enough with the Liz Marie Color theory course, let’s get to this new paint color that I am loving for our back living room. I am sharing this mid-project, so the room is not done, and I have some thoughts on updating the trim and floors, but that’s an entirely different blog post. The new favorite color that I am using for the latest paint project here at the farm is Drop Cloth (No. 283) by Farrow and Ball. We color matched it with Behr Scuff Defense at Home Depot.
A little over a year ago we have transformed this space from a hidden and unorganized storage room to a main family space for us. We removed an entryway door, two sliders, and two windows, and replaced them with three sets of Andersen Series A French Doors. With that much natural light coming in from north and south faces of our home, there is no need in assisting with making the room lighter and brighter with paint, so I wanted to cozy it up with a bit more warmer color. They define the color as not too yellow or grey, and a contrast to either lighter colors of Shaded White and Shadow white, which are two colors I have used in the past (and loved). Check out some more paint colors that I really enjoy here [HERE].
Farrow & Ball usually comes with slight gasp, because of price. I have used actual Farrow & Ball products as well as color matched with different paint companies, I will say their price is higher but the quality seems to be there. However, for my needs and my home, I opt to save a few dollars and color match it with a mid-grade Benjamin Moore or Behr paint series. And side note opinion: in my own home, the only time I spend for a paint companies high-end is for cabinetry. I feel like I get a great result when I use mid-grade paint from Benjamin Moore and Behr on my walls (and floors).
If I am anything like my grandma that inspired my love for interior design, I’ll be painting cabinets and walls well into my 80’s but, I would definitely spend a bit more money on some finalized colors in a space when the household slows down a bit, empty nesters, retiree’s and so forth. But right now, there is many more years of re-remodeling spaces, shuffling furniture, and painting a space just because.
If you are looking for a new cozy paint color, go get a swatch of Drop Cloth by Farrow & Ball. I think it is the perfect color to cozy our this already light and bright family room & maybe more. One thing to note…when Liz has a paint brush in her hand, nothing is safe.
I hope by my sharing why I love changing up the paint colors in spaces around different season and seasons of life matters to me & as always I love sharing there on the blog to help inspire your next cozy project. If you have a favorite paint color right now or add F&B Drop Cloth into your space, be sure to share it with my on Instagram or in our Facebook Group (here). If you are looking to keep up with us daily, find us on Instagram, Facebook, & TikTok. Thank you again for stopping by the blog today, it means the world to us here on the farm. Stay Cozy!
